The creative directors shaping fashion's future

There’s a seismic shift about to shake fashion. Perhaps not quite like the worldwide furore Christian Dior unleashed in 1947 with the New Look. Or when Coco Chanel loosened the shackles of corsetry with a boucle suit inspired by men’s tailoring. Not even like when Giorgio Armani gave tailoring a Grecian tilt, all ease and gleaming insouciance… Even so, this shift promises to refine the very vocabulary of dress, and with it, the way fashion seeps into how we live, wear, and express ourselves. While last year, there was buzz around Sarah Burton taking over at Givenchy and Louise Trotter being appointed Creative Director of Bottega Veneta, come fall, five new designers will unveil their debut collections on the runways of Paris and Milan.

Each has been appointed to the helm of a storied maison, armed with an aesthetic shaped during formative years and sharpened at their previous houses. As what they do next could very well redefine the codes of the brands they now lead, we take a closer look at their creative signatures and what to expect when their visions come to life.

GLENN MARTENS

Glenn Martens’ appointment as Creative Director at Maison Margiela feels less like a surprise and more like a natural progression. Known for his radical approach to construction and textile manipulation, he has long championed the kind of fashion that blurs boundaries — a philosophy deeply embedded in Margiela’s own DNA. For his final show at Diesel, he washed leather until it crimped into pseudo ruffles, plasticised denim until it glowed, and upcycled traditional houndstooth into sculptural, collarless outerwear. This instinct to deconstruct and reimagine fabrics — to find poetry in the process — makes him an ideal fit for a house that has always celebrated transformation and conceptual reinvention.

After graduating from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Glenn began his career working for Jean Paul Gaultier before founding his own label, G2. His avant-garde designs and subversive approach to denim garnered critical acclaim, a cult following, and a job at Y/Project (a daring brand of its own that shut down in January 2025 after 14 years). He later became the Creative Director of Diesel.

PIERPAOLO PICCIOLI

Arguably modern fashion’s greatest romanticist and colourist, Pierpaolo Piccioli’s appointment as Balenciaga’s new Creative Director marks a significant shift in the fashion landscape. After a transformative 25-year tenure at Valentino, where he ascended from accessory designer to sole Creative Director in 2016, Pierpaolo is set to bring his romantic and colour-centric vision to the Spanish house. Known for his mastery of haute couture and innovative use of colour, Pierpaolo’s work at Valentino included the creation of the “Pink PP” vibrant hue that became synonymous with the brand’s identity.

His shows were always a wonder to behold — whether it was jeans that weren’t jeans, but silk gazar embroidered in microbeads, or couture in bombastic proportions (for men and women alike), bathed in a riot of vivid, painterly hues. With his debut slated for October at Paris Fashion Week, Pierpaolo will stage six annual collections and bring his humanist approach to Balenciaga, aiming to build on the house’s bold creativity, rich heritage, and strong culture.

DEMNA

Gucci’s newest Artistic Director returns to the spotlight with a mandate to reignite the Italian house’s creative engine. Known for reshaping Balenciaga over a decade long tenure, Demna turned irony into an aesthetic and cultural critique into fashion currency — from IKEA-inspired totes and intentionally distressed sneakers, to runway shows that tackled themes such as climate change and digital overload. His couture debut featured models of all shapes and sizes in attenuated silhouettes and that infamous silk gazar — a Balenciaga classic since it was first introduced by founder Cristóbal Balenciaga — for its heavy-duty structure that made it easier to drape and cut on the bias.

Before Balenciaga, Demna cut his teeth at Maison Margiela and Louis Vuitton, refining a conceptual clarity that would become his signature. He later co-founded Vetements, the anti-fashion label that helped usher in fashion’s post-normcore wave. Now, all eyes are on Gucci’s next chapter. Will Demna bring disruption or reinvention? Probably both. Either way, the great Gucci reset is officially underway.

JONATHAN ANDERSON

The esoteric designer taking on the reins of Dior, Jonathan Anderson’s aesthetic will go down in history as magnetically original. His debut menswear show at Paris Fashion Week reimagined the Bar jacket in Donegal tweed, paired with couture-inspired cargo shorts — setting the tone for a collection steeped in eccentric elegance and quiet subversion. Known for transforming Loewe into a global multimillion-dollar behemoth, Jonathan injected a dose of surreal craftiness into the house’s vocabulary: Shakespearean tailcoats and floor-length jackets with the ease of pyjamas; leather dresses and floral gazar tops with a peplum cut; jigsaw knitwear; and cult accessories like the Puzzle or the Hammock produced in a rainbow of iterations.

For Dior’s Spring 2026 Menswear collection, he toyed with legacy and irreverence — 18th-century frock coats in moleskin, khakis draped like the house’s iconic Caprice dress, and book totes stamped with Baudelaire titles. Jonathan’s genius lies in making the conceptual feel commercial. Now, as he takes on womenswear and couture, we await how he’ll entwine Dior’s legacy of deft-cutting tailoring with his love of fabrics, narrative, and craft.

MATTHIEU BLAZY

Newly appointed Creative Director at Chanel, Matthieu Blazy steps into fashion’s most storied maison with quiet confidence and a reputation for reinvention. From 2021 to 2024, he helmed Bottega Veneta, where his tactile, sculptural approach to luxury redefined the brand’s DNA. His debut collection — featuring trompe l’oeil denim crafted from leather — showcased his mastery in slicing conventional fabrics into asymmetrical forms and pairing them with unexpected textures. The result: garments that draped naturally and flattered the body in surprising ways.

Under his direction, accessories like the Andiamo and Kalimero became instant icons. “You can’t keep such talent under wraps” is how fashion critic Suzy Menkes described his tenure at Bottega. Earlier, Matthieu honed his vision at Raf Simons, Maison Margiela, Celine, and Calvin Klein, developing a language rooted in precision and discretion. Now, as he prepares his first collection for Chanel, the industry watches closely.